Rising food prices and a weak economy are making it increasingly difficult for millions of American families to afford an adequate healthy diet.  So the improvements Congress just made in the Food Stamp Program — the nation’s first line of defense against hunger — through the new Farm Bill couldn’t have come at a better time.

An estimated 11 million low-income Americans, including families with children, seniors, and people with disabilities, will benefit from the Farm Bill improvements.

Much more needs to be done to make the Food Stamp Program’s benefits more responsive to low-income Americans’ needs.  For example, families’ food stamp benefits have steadily lost purchasing power over the past decade; the Farm Bill will halt this erosion but won’t restore benefits to their former levels — a serious problem given the rising cost of living.  Still, this year’s improvements are a welcome first step.

Now the focus shifts to the states, which have a lot of work to do (training food stamp caseworkers, reprogramming computers, recalculating benefits under the new rules, etc.) before the changes take effect on October 1.  Effective state implementation is key to ensuring that these improvements help as many people as Congress intended.  And if states are also able to reach some of the families that qualify for food stamps but aren’t getting them, even more needy Americans could receive help in putting food on the table.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 3rd, 2008 at 9:58 am and is filed under Politics .